Insulated rail joint



- July l, 1930. E. F. SCHERMERHORN 1,759,651

- INSULATED RAIL JOINT Filed April 2, 1929 -2 sheets-sheet 1 ZlmemtozE1? fichermerhorn,

Jul 1, 1930.

' E. F. SCHERMERHC'JIRN INSULATED RAIL JOINT Filed A ril 2, 1929 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented July 1, 1930 UNITE s A'rEs- PATENT OFFECEEDWARDS r. sonnmvrnnnonn, or BROOKLYN, NEW YO K, ASSIGNOR T THE-RAILJOINT COMPANY, OF NEW Yemen. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK INSULATEDRAIL JOINT Application filed April 2',

' joints, and has-particular referenceto im-' provements in theinsulation for rail joints of the continuous type, i.- e., joints whichare inclusive of joint bars having foot flanges and base sectionsoverlyingand extendingbeneath the flanges of the rails, re-v spectively;the-insulation for a joint of this type generally consisting of suitablesheet m dielectric material made to conform. to the shape of a: railbelow the head thereof, whereby it is adapted for placement between thejoint bars and the railsto maintain the bars and rails electricallyinsulated from One another. I y Y The purpose of this invention; is tocone structzthe insulation in specially formed sec ti-ons, whereby muchof the difiiculty now experienced in producing the necessary bendstherein, and some of the fine manufacturing tolerances now required, maybe avoided.

Moreover, the present sectional construction,

of the insulation permits of increased speed and economy in manufacture;facilitates the replacement of worn sections; reduces to a 7 m nimum thenumber of dles and insulatmg sections required to be kept in stock forrails ofvarying sizes, and provides for an effective interlocking of thesections of insulabolts whereby all of the sections will, in use,

be prevented from creeping within and from 1 the joint. I

With the foregoing general purpose in view, the invention consists inthe novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of partsas will be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in theaccompanying drawings and defined in theappended claims. I -V In thedrawings, wherein like characters of reference denote correspondingparts in the different views; i V

Figure 1 is a transverse section througha well known type of railjointhaving the present sectional insulation embodied there- Figure 2 isa side elevation of'the joint with the joint bar removed to expose theinsulation; and

tion with one another and with the joint,

1929'." Serial at. 351,941.

V .Figure is. a perspective view showing the insulation-sectionsseparated. from one another but in the general relative positions theyoccupy when incorporated in a joint,

Referring to the drawings in detail, it will be ob-servedthat the. railjoint shown includes 1n 1ts organizatlon the service rails A, A, theopposite joint bars B, B, and the usual joint bolts C. All of: thesepartsare of conventional design, the; j Olllt bars each consistingofabody portion 10'. adapted to be disposed within the fishing space of:the rails, a bearing head portion 11' at thetop adapted to underlie thehead of the rail, a foot flange: pzortioncl2' extending outward-- ly andinclined downwardly from thebottom of portion LOand adapted to overliethe flange of, the rail, and a horizontal rail. supporting base portion13; extending in wardly from the footeflange portion 12 and adapted tobe disposed beneath the bottom of the rail, all as is well understoodskilled in theart, I

In carrying out the present, invention any suitable form'ofbolt and. endpost insulation maybe employed,- the end post insulation letvconsisting, for example jof a sheet of; fibre or other dielectricmaterial disposed between the meeting ends of the rails,- and thexboltinsulation consisting,,for example, of sleeves or bushings 15 of. fibreor other dielectric material arranged to, surround the bolts wheretheyextend through the boltholes in the webs of the joint bars.

The insulation with which this invention" is particularly concernedisthat which is adaptedto beplaced between the rails A,'A, and the: jointbarsB, B, and in accordance with the invention thisinsulation, considered as an entirety when viewed in end els vation consists preferablyofvseven different sections herein designated a, a, Z7, 6*, o, o

- and d, respectively, each of which extends bythose 1*portionsf16ofthese sections being'adapted for "placement between the bearing headper-y tions 'llfof the joint bars and "meander Head sections a, f whicharelof substantially inverted L-sha pe as viewed'in end elevatio'n, andwhich are or maybe duplicates of one another, each is ncluslve of a top,

portionlG aiid'a sideportion l7, the top faces of the head of the rail,respectively,

andthe side portions 17 lbeingadapte'd for,

placement between; the upper body portions of the, joint barsand thewebof theqrail, respectively, Theselatter portions preferably are ofsuch depth that their lower edges are: disposed below the topsandabove"the bottoms of bolts1 C, and they are notched asf The base section (Zwhich: consists of a indicated at, 18 to receive upperportions i i'saidlbolts, wherebyjtheyarm held against longitudinal movement; 1 a Thefoot(flangezsectionsi bg" Z) which are of substantially L-shapeasrviewed "in end elevation and which} like sections'c, afare or may bedupllcatesofi one another, each is inclusive of aside portion 19. and abottom portion 20, the side portions19 being adapt; ed; for. placement.between the lo'werbody portions of the joint bars and" opposite sidesofthe web of the rail, respectively, andthe lower portions 20being-adapted for'placement between; the opposite upper' facesjof theflange of the' rail and the under faces of the foot flanges of the jointbars, respec tively. The side portions 19 preferably are of such heightixthatrtheir upper" ejdges are disposed below the tops andabovethebottomsof the'rboltsC and'they are 'notched:

' as indicateddat 21 to receive lower portions of-said boltscwhereby,like the sections Zara", said sections b, b"5*are held againstlongitudinal movement. f The side portions 20 on the other hand mayextend any suitable distance outwardly, i although preferably 5 theyterminate-adjacent to but inwardly ofj iThe cuif piecesc, 0" which areof substan tially U -shape as viewed in end elevation and which,liketheihead se tions a," :a and the the edgesof theIrail flanges whereeach is provided "with fo'ne' or more notches-22 for a purpose jwhichwill "presently appear.

foot flange sections 1), =b. are ormay be duplicates of one anotheneachis inclusive of an upperportiong23fialower portion crane I i a l aabight or;;connecting; portioni=25.- These; t "cufi-p ljecesaretadaptedzto embracecthe-edge portions "of theirail flange,respectively} and to this end the portions 23 are adapted for placementbetween the oppositenpper faces} 7 'of itherail" flangeandtheunder facesof the; foot flanges of the joint bars, respece tiyelygthe'portions 24are adapted for place tions 23 is such that said portionsform in, effectcontinuations of the portions 20 of the'foot flange sections b, b,respectively, a tongue or tongues 26 being provided on each portion 23to fit into a related notch 22 .aforementionedwhereby the cuff pieces0,6 are held by the foot flange sectionsb, 7) against longitudinalmovement, a similar tongue or-tongues 27 being provided on each portion241- for interlocking engagement with, the base section d whereby thissection also is held against longitudinal movement.

flat strip 'of slightly; less width than the r rail flange, and which isadapted for placement 'between the bottom of the rail and the upperfaces of the base portions of the joint bars, is provided along eachlongitudinal edge thereof with one or more .n0tches28 to receive thetongue or tongues 27 of'th'e V puff pieces c whereby saidbase'section'is;-

aslaforesaid, separably interlocked with said .cfuifpieces 0. I r

Heretofore it, hasbeen the practice to split base section cZlongitudinally and to formthe two half sectionsthereof integrally. withportions 24, 2irof the jcufi pieces 0, 0 re spectively; also to form thefootflange sec-j tions 6, b integrally with the'cuff pieces 0, 0,respectively. Due, however, to the relatively sharp bends at-25 and atthe junction of portions 19, 20 with oneanother it has-been necessaryaccording to priorprac V 'fticeto'use an expensive die to hold thematerial andv produce these bends accurately and the process of'holdin'gand bending has been com'parativelyslow; By forming the foot flangeandcuff pieces 6-, 0v and b, 0" separate from one another and separatefrom thebase section d, however, thefoot" flange sections 6, b mayeasily be bent on an ordinary cornice, bender the same asis employed forbending the head sections 0;, o/JThe cufi pieces 0, c, thus beingconiparatively short in their legs, may readily be bent in'a smaller andcheaper die. More-' over, since the cufl piecesc, c are merely p fillersor guards and carry no load, nor suffer any Wear, they may be placedin ajoint when new and need not be renewed when 'the other parts, which aresubject to wear, need replacing. This means not o'nlyeconorny andincreased facility in renewing but; also means the avoidance of some ofthe fine manufacturing tolerances now required, be-

f cause being merely fillers or guardsfthe cuffpieces 0, o may beallowed to varyinthick-H I Go 7 ness and form without sufiering seriousconsequences.

The base section (Z, being placed under the rails, carries a great dealof the load and is subject to compression and ultimately to destruction.In bendingfibre it is necessary to soak it in hot water or subject it tosteam in order to soften it sufficiently to permit bending. On thisaccount it is practically impossible to secure as hard a grade of fibrein a bent piece as in a flat piece because the latter receives its hardqualities through calendering between hot rolls and it is notpracticable to calender a piece after it has been bent into the shape ofthe anti pieces 0, c. This has previously meant of course, when the cuifpieces 0, c and base section (Z were formed integrally, that the basesection d was softened simultaneously with softening of the cuff pieces0, 0 to permit bending of the latter, whereas, according to the presentimprovements, the base section (5 need I not be subjected to thesoftening process.

Again, if the cufi pieces 0, c and the base section (Z are formedintegrally with one another, according to prior practice, it isnecessary to have dies for a comparatively large number of differentsizes of insulation to fit various sizes of rail and joint bar sections,and to carry a stock of all of these difl'erent die-made sections, sothat the amount of stock heretofore required amounted to a large total.Because of the present improvements, however, the number of differentdies and stock sections may be reduced ,to a minimum, because differentsizes of the different insulation sections,

especially base sections d of different widths,

may be interchanged with the other sections to produce different sizesof the Whole builtup structure.

Should the respective insulation sections. be molded instead of bent toshape they.

would still possess some of the foregoing advantages, while if they arebent from flat material theywould possess all of said advantages, andthe various advantages would .be. present irrespective of which sectionswere provided with tongues and which seetionswere provided with notchesto receive the tongues.

Without further description it is thought that the features andadvantages of the invention will be readily apparent to .those skilledin the art, and it will of course be understood that changes in theform, pro portion and minor details of construction may be resorted to,without departing from the spirit of the invention and scope of theappended claims.

I claim 1. An insulated rail, joint including, in

combination, therail, the sidejoint bars,

and sectional insulation for each bar includ- I ing a separate headsection, a separate foot railflange.

' In testimony whereof I hereunto afix my signature.

sectional insulation for each bar including i a foot flange-section, abase section, and .a cuflf piece separably interlocked with said footflange and base sections.

3. An insulated rail joint including, in combination, the rail, the sidejoint bars, and sectional insulation for each barincluding a separatelyformed foot flange section terminating inwardly of the edge of the railflange. I

4. An insulated rail joint including, in combination, the rail, the sidejoint bars, and sectional insulation for each bar including a footflange section, a cufi'piece receiving the edge portion of the railflange, and cooperating tongue and notch formations between said sectionand said cufi piece separably interlocking them with one another. g

5. An insulated rail joint including, in

combination, the rail, the side joint bars, and sectional insulation foreach bar in-: cluding a foot flange section, a base section,

a cuff piece receiving the edge portion of" the rail flange, and meansseparably inter- I flange and separably interlocked. with the footflange section. 7

7. An, insulated rail joint including, in combination, the rail, theside joint bars, and sectional insulation for each bar including a basesection underlying the rail, a cufi piece receiving the edge portion ofthe rail flange, interfitting tongue and notch formations between saidbase section and said cuff piece, a foot flange section overlyingtherail flange, and interfitting tongue and notch formations between'saidcuif piece and said foot flange section, said foot flange section havingnotches receiving the joint bolts.

8. An insulated rail joint including in combination, the rail, the sidejoint bars,

and sectionalinsulation for each joint bar including. a separate headsection, a separate foot flange section terminating inwardlyl of theedge of the rail flange, and a separate cuff piece receiving the edgeportion of the g I EDWARDS F. SCHERMERHORN;

